


Stuck in the 70s? Pop Music in the MCU

by yourlibrarian



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Meta, Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 11:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8576149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: I started wondering the other day why it always seems to be music from the 70s featured in Marvel movies.  (There is already an excellent discussion about their rather unmemorable soundtracks).  For example, Tony Stark's signature tune is AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill," (1980) and there are similar 70s songs on the movies' soundtracks.  The Ant Man soundtrack includes songs from 1973 and 1975.  Guardians of the Galaxy makes 70s pop tunes a part of the plot.  And in Dr. Strange, he's a music expert and debates whether something was released in 1977 or 1978.Why this time period?  I came up with a couple of possibilities:





	

I started wondering the other day why it always seems to be music from the 70s featured in Marvel movies. (There is already an excellent discussion about their rather [unmemorable soundtracks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs)). 

For example, Tony Stark's signature tune is AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill," (1980) and there are similar 70s songs on the movies' soundtracks. The Ant Man soundtrack includes songs from 1973 and 1975. Guardians of the Galaxy makes 70s pop tunes a part of the plot. And in Dr. Strange, he's a music expert and debates whether something was released in 1977 or 1978.

Why this time period? I came up with a couple of possibilities:

a) Money: The tunes are fairly well known but not top-shelf expensive. For example GotG ends with the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" but not, say, a tune from Thriller. Strange does not debate the year of release of a Beatles tune. Perhaps these sorts of songs are a lot cheaper than using music from more current artists? Marvel is a Disney company these days and Disney is notoriously tight fisted with budgets.

b) Older fans: The creators of a lot of these films may either be nodding to the time period of their childhood or the childhoods of a lot of their fans. On the other hand, it seems to me that they'd have more of an audience from the 80s or 90s which is also the same time period that many of the characters would have been teenagers. By comparison many of these characters were created in the 1960s or earlier so the 70s time period is both too late and too early.

c) Timelessness: Using music from a much older time period could be a way of not "dating" the movies by using very current music. Presumably a lot of these songs will remain as popular 50 years from now as they are now. This might not be true of current material. It makes me think of how Joss Whedon wanted to come up with his own slang for his 90s teenagers rather than potentially be dated within a few years by trying to copy what was in use at the moment.

I was also thinking about how another long-running franchise, the Bond films, has taken a very different approach when it comes to pop songs. Instead, they've chosen performers of the day singing songs that represent the movie in question and all have a (sometimes subtle, sometimes not) homage to the movie's central music theme. These songs have often done very well on the music charts with some as iconic as the films themselves. The music and the movies end up selling one another.

I find it interesting how Marvel, which is also planning a very long running franchise, doesn't seem to be using the same synergy in marketing. Did I miss contrary examples or other explanations?


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